Blank for railway-spikes



(No Model.)

J. T. JONES.

BLANK FOR RAILWAY SPIKE-s.

No. 386,404. Patented July 17, 1888.

uw. www.. Hmmm A ||l| 3.x l I I e Il [l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN T. JONES, OF IRON MOUNTAIN, MICHIGAN.

BLANK FOR RAILWAY-sPiKEs.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 386,404, dated July 17, 1888.

Application filed November-12, 1883.

.To all wtmit it may concern:

Beit known that I, .Ici-IN T. JoNns, a citizen of the United States, residing at Iron Mountain, in the county of Menoniinee and State of Michigan, have invented or discovered a new and useful Improvement in Blanks for Railway-Spikes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, concise, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this speeitication, in which like letters indicating like parts- Figurel is a perspective view of a blank for railwayspikes. Fig. 2 is a similar view of" a modified forni of blank. Figs. 3 and 4 are perspective views of' spikes ent from the blanks shown in Figs. l and 2, respectively.

My invention relates to blanks for steel railway spikes; and in general termsit consists in a form or shape of blank, all as more fully hereinafter described and claimed.

The object of my invention is to so forni a blank that railway-spikes may be cut therefrom in a manner nearly similar to that in which 'the ordinary nails are cut; butv in place of' turning the blank over at each cut my blank is fed with a straight feed.

In forming my spike-blank I take the fag ends or sections of steel railway-rails, and by rolling in suitably-f`ormed rolls the flange and head of the rails arc upset or reduced, so as to form the head and point edges of the blank, the surplus metal of the flange and head being forced into the web part, so as to nearly lill ont that portion of the blank formed by the web; or the blank may be formed direct from a steel bloom by rolling in suitably-shaped rolls.

In the drawings, A represents my improved blank, which is formed with two parallel sides, I) c, and the point edge ofthe blank is equally beveled off on both sides at d, so as to bring the pointcof thc blank into the plane passing centrally through the blank. On the opposite edge of the blank is formed a ridge, f, in one side only of the blank, and this ridge is beveled off on both of its sides, as shown at g. This ridge forms, when a spike is severed from the blank, the head of the spike. After the blank has been formed as described and shown,

Seria] No. IILEIOB. (No model.)

it is then fed into a suitable machine constructed similar to the ordinary nail-machine; but in place of the cutters being constructed or arranged to make diagonal cuts through the blank they are arranged so as to cut in parallel lines, as indicated by dotted lines in Figs. and 2. As soon as the spike has been severed from the blank, it is caught by suitable grippers and held while headed up by a suitable die, and there is thus formed a spike having the shape shown in Fig. 3.

It will be observed that my blank is not turned or reversed, as is the ordinary nailblank, sueh reversal being unnecessary, as the cuts are parallel.

In forming my blank from fag ends or sections of rails I have found that the web portion is not entirely filled up bythe surplus metal of the head and flange, and that consequently there is a longitudinal groove or recess in the blank, as shown in Fig. 2, and that the spike cut from said grooved blank Will have a transverse groove in its body portion, as shown in Fig. 4; but this transverse groove does not injure the spike, but rather adds to its efficiency, as a portion of the wood into which this grooved spike is driven will enter this recess, and thus resist any efforts to extract it. I may, however, roll blanks similar to that shown in Fig. 3, in which there is no longitudinal recess, by placing a strip of steel on the web portion ot' the rail end or section previous to its reduction, and this strip will, when the blank has been rolled, have filled up the recess, and a blank having unbroken sides will be produced.

I claim herein as my invention- A blank for railway-spikes having parallel sides, said sides being beveled off at one edge of the blank and having a ridge formed ou one side at the opposite edge of the blank, said ridge being beveled off on both sides, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

JOHN T. JONES.

Vitnesses:

R. H. VHITTLESEY, DARWIN S. VoLcoTT. 

